Things Go Hazy
by Michiee
Summary: Owen and Annabel's experience without each other and how they deal with it. Once a one-shot, now two stories. So two one-shots? O/A, a little bit of OOC.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, it's me. Again. Yeah, I only post up stories for my friends' sake. :) But, if you do read it - and I mean the whole thing - please! **REVIEW. **

This took a while to write, I was on writers block or something. But here it is: a one-shot. (I love one-shots.)**  
**

Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me; they belong to the wonderful Sarah Dessen.

* * *

It's been two months, and yet I still couldn't stop thinking about her.

That sounded cliché, but it was true. Her face - her soft, beautiful face - was cemented in my mind.

And I couldn't get it out of there. I was heading to the infamous Waffle House with Mallory in tow, since she had school late because of the snow here in Lakeview. So did I, but I certainly did not want to eat breakfast with Peppy Girl here. But Mom was already frustrated with waking up late for work, so I agreed to bringing here and dropping her off at school.

Looking at Mallory, she seemed so fragile. Her legs with straight, almost stuck together. Her arms were shielding her from the snowflakes dropping from the cloudy sky. And her hair was wet, sticking to her pale face. I asked her, "Do you feel sick?"

"No," she said. "I feel fine." I nodded, not wanting to continue this discussion because of her sharp tone. "But," Mallory continued, "I just don't want to go to school."

Why wouldn't she? Wasn't she popular there, because of her neon and light pink outfits, and perfect blond hair? Looking at her sad face, I didn't think so. "Well, why not?"

"People," she answered.

I opened my mouth, about to say something until she interrupted me.

"And I know that's a placeholder! And I'll be specific, I promise."

I opened the doors of the restaurant, letting Mallory go in first. Taking my coat off, and getting Mallorys' as she did the same, I said to her, "Tell me then."

She scoffed. "Let's just go eat, Owen." She headed to a booth near the heater, and I followed her. I remembered when I came here with Rolly and Annabel. It was when we were just starting to be good friends - with Annabel, not Rolly - and I felt happy then. But now, I just felt like.. paper.

Blank.

She sat down, and I did, on the opposite side.

Then, she looked at me with a thoughtful expression. "Whatever happened to Annabel?"

I glanced down, up, sideways, not wanting to look at her. I did it after a couple of seconds, not wanting to look like I was having a seizure. She knew I didn't go out as usual, or bring Annabel home; she was the typical girl: always having to believe those movies where the guy has a girl friend and they become a couple at the end.

"Answer the question, Owen. If you want to know why I don't want to go to school," she whispered.

"I don't want to know _why_. I was just curious."

Mallory smirked, grabbing a menu from the back of the napkin dispenser. I took it from her. She just had this big O formation on her face, so I laughed. My sister is _so_ not like me.

"Jerk!" she yelled. "I wanted to see that, so I could pick out food to eat."

"This isn't shopping. I'll "pick" it out for you," I said, mocking her. When the waiter came, I gave her the typical breakfast order: waffles (of course), eggs, sausage, and bacon. Mallory's face became light, and she clapped her hands, saying, "I'm having that? All that food?" I answered in a slow, bewildered, nod.

A couple of minutes later, the hot and steamy food came, and my tongue was just watering. Mallory just dug in like she hadn't eaten in three months. I looked at her, chewing the waffles, swallowing it down. "Why do you care so much about Annabel?" I asked.

"Because," she said, wiping the syrup off her mouth with a napkin, "you're not yourself, Owen. And I want him back."

I sat there, frozen. My sister, who of all is probably the most annoying, whiniest, typical teenage girl missed me. And she loves me. She didn't say that, but she did imply it. My hands were over my eyes, and I just groaned. How was I supposed to answer this? That Annabel was the one person who made me happier. Or, even happy. Everyone at school was so judgmental of me, but not her. She took me in, and didn't run away. She stayed. But now, she was gone. Disappeared, in her own little world. I never wanted to go and find her, because I want her to come back, and just spit out everything inside her little head. No matter what, though, she was hiding something. And all I wanted to do was help her. Comfort her.

And even though this sounds creepy or even weird, I wanted to kiss her. Just make her happy. The same that she did to me. I didn't answer the question Mallory asked, I ignored it. We ate, and ate, then left without a word.

Just like Annabel did.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, hi there! I know, a lot of you guys were asking for a part two to the one-shot, which really wouldn't make it a one-shot anymore. However, I was just so happy and excited about the comments. I never really expected so many people to like my writing and this is probably a year late but it's still something! And because I love this book so much, I decided to extend my story for you guys. :)

I hope this is enough to get you guys through. This is in the POV of Annabel, of course. It's longer because of how less difficult it is since the story is told in her view. Anyway, I really really really really really really really hope you guys enjoy it!

Oh, and as always,** please REVIEW**!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters; everything belongs to the wonderful Sarah Dessen._ (Plus she has a new book out next month guys! AH!)_

* * *

"Annabel, come on! Hurry up or we'll be late!"

I turned around, almost sluggishly, not wanting to see Kirsten's pleading expression. She was only a couple steps away from the stairs, but I kept my distance.

"Kirsten. How many times will I have to tell you that _I don't want to go out_?"

"Oh my God, Annabel. You need to have your spirits lifted. You can't spend your break moping around the house, waiting for something new and exciting to happen."

_Oh God, _I thought, _please don't tell me she's referring to…Owen. _

"I am not moping. It's just that I'm really tired and-"

Kirsten blew a raspberry as if it was a mock to what I just said. She quickly jumped up the stairs and dragged me down, locking my arm in hers. "Come on, sister. It'll be fun! And you won't have to do any physical action; it'll just be you sitting and listening to the pretty boys sing. Sound good?"

I groaned loudly as she plummeted out the door, with me in arm, into the fierce December winds.

* * *

The vibrations from the speakers immediately made my head ache. I sat down on a bar stool, motioning Kirsten to walk towards me. She was in complete bliss, almost as if this was her heaven. Apparently, punk rock mixed with a hint of indie was her style. However, I wasn't in the mood for the clubbers pushing me and almost knocking their beer onto my lap.

"Kirsten, I told you I didn't want to come here!" I whispered harshly into her ear.

She gave me a funny look. "You want me to look inside your ear?"

I rolled my eyes, turning away. She must have shrugged it off and went back to jumping up and down like a frantic bunny rabbit with the crowd. I gathered all of my stuff and decided to look inside Kirsten's bag for her ID. I figured if she was having some fun, I would at least try to.

Taking her ID out of her "glamorous Louis Vuitton bag", I showed it to the bartender. I hoped that the faded letters would at least benefit me and for the most part it did. Although he did give me a suspicious look, I gave him my order. Or, at least, anything with alcohol.

Looking at the colored bottle with God knows what kind of liquid is inside, I took it in my hands and chugged it down. I cringed at the aftertaste, but I kept on drinking. It made things a little woozy and I felt as if I was in a haze, almost enjoying the ringing in my ears and screams from the crowd. I swayed to the music.

I was lucky enough to know that Kirsten never looked my way again. Otherwise, I would be killed in the next ten minutes. _Guess she didn't need any sort of alcohol to life her spirits up._

An hour passed until I decided to search the crowd for Kirsten, knowing that it was nearing 1AM and our "curfew" - or mine, for the matter - was going to be crossed. Tons of people pushed me along their path and I was caught in their dance battles or either being shoved within a group of girls and guys. I couldn't control it, having that I drank about three bottles of alcohol in the past hour.

This was getting frustrating. I _needed_ to get out of here. Talk about an angry drunk.

"Kirsten!" I yelled furiously. The people around me laughed at my pointless try to communicate with my sister. My bitch-stare scared them away. I kept yelling Kirsten's name again and again. _No point. She's somewhere around here and her bag is probably going to get stolen, along with the money she has in it, but now, I frankly don't give a shit._

The band was suddenly slowing things down a bit, announcing they were going to be doing slower songs. _Thank GOD._ My eyes were now scanning the crowd for Kirsten until I saw _him._

I felt my throat close, automatically making my knees wobbly and head ache even more.

_Owen was here._

I kept on staring even if my intentions were to swivel around and go straight back to the stool. He was with friends, possibly Rolly and whoever else. But…he didn't seem to be enjoying himself, with his brooding expression. Maybe because of how cheesy and lame the band was. I smiled at that, still staring at him.

And then his eyes looked at mine. _Shit._

I blinked, maybe that bringing me back to reality. He kept on looking at me. I did, too. For whatever reason, I did not know. It was as if this was supposed to happen. I didn't have any problem with it but maybe that was the alcohol's cause.

_God, I miss you._

Owen was dragged out of his place by Rolly. He blinked again, mouthing something to his friend. Then before I knew it, he was walking towards me.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Kirsten, where the hell are you?_

And suddenly, fate decided to give me a hand and made Kirsten suddenly appear in front of me. She had her things in her arms, grabbing my hand.

"Annabel! Oh my God! I had no idea where you were! Let's get the hell out of here before we're both in hot water, oh shit," she kept cursing to herself. However, my attention was on Owen, possibly five steps way from me.

I was dragged out of my place, into the crowd once again. I turned back around, looking for him. He was nowhere in sight.

Once we were outside in the cold weather, Kirsten said, "Jesus, Annabel. It was like you were in a trance. What happened to you?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm sorry, I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired, that's it."

"Anything happen in there that I should know about?"

I thought about Owen and his green eyes staring into mine and the intimate moment we both had with each other. His body suddenly coming towards me. _Just a couple of more steps…_

"Nope. Nothing at all."


End file.
